Han Qingxiao said, "Great, just what I intended!" Lin Aoshan replied with a smile, "Good! They have more people, so if we split up, they will too, making them easier to handle."

Wang Long struck with his sword, sending the iron ball flying. The ball, made of black shields, burst apart mid-air, releasing ten black-armored mysterious soldiers. Wang Long said, "I’ll go on ahead!" and used Lightweight Skill to escape.

Lin Aoshan said, "Boss, Xiaolizi, take care of yourselves!" and then turned to flee. Li Xian thought that Lin Aoshan was slightly less competent; among the four of them, Lin Aoshan was the one he worried about most. The two were old acquaintances and good friends, so he quickly went after her, plucking a strand of long hair, and said, "Ao Shan, keep this hair. If something happens, plant it in the ground and let it pass your message!"

Seeing that Li Xian specially chased after her to give her the hair, Lin Aoshan, though puzzled by its use, knew it must be important. Her heart warmed as memories of their friendship in the Prefecture City surfaced. She nodded, "Okay! Take care of yourself." She tucked the hair into her sleeve, and seeing a fork in the path ahead, the two split up and went in opposite directions. The pursuing enemies paused momentarily, then divided into two groups to chase after them.

Li Xian’s pursuers were numerous, over thirty in all: five elite soldiers in red armor, five special soldiers in black armor, and twenty soldiers in white armor. Every time he used Lightweight Skill to temporarily elude them, the pursuers would take another route and encircle him, yet they always managed to catch up.

Li Xian’s spear attack was formidable. The soldiers were fearful, avoiding direct confrontation and only trying to entangle him. This played into Li Xian’s position: "The art of Array, though vast and profound, is mostly used for encircling, trapping, fighting, and killing... If you persist in entangling, you’re abandoning the advantages of your Array and using your weakness against my strength."

He cleverly maneuvered using the terrain, seizing any chance to strike. With spear thrusts, arrow shots, and Palm Technique... he used everything he had learned, and his Martial Arts were at their Peak. Over thirty men were killed one by one, suffering heavy losses. Whenever they attempted to form an Array to fight back, Li Xian would disappear, as if he were a phantom, deftly killing enemies and slipping away.

Seeing their numbers dwindling, it was difficult to reform the Array, and they fled in panic, no longer daring to entangle him.

Four elite soldiers in red armor died, sixteen soldiers in white armor fell, and three special soldiers in black armor perished. Li Xian did not forget to search the corpses, collecting a few taels of money, one hundred and forty-nine "Eagle Feather Arrows," a quiver, and a Silver Bow.

Earlier, when sneaking into Jieyou Tower, Li Xian had disguised himself as a merchant and did not bring the Peach Blossom Bow. Now, with both a bow and arrows, no matter how strong the enemy’s formation, it could not touch him.

The crypt path was complicated. Li Xian escaped danger and wandered around. He knew that the "Nine Orifice Dragon Heart Acupoint" was extremely complex, like a heart’s chambers, with thousands of paths inside, just like human thoughts, constantly changing and extremely difficult to predict.

Li Xian murmured, "The only plan now is to try the dumb way. Search everywhere, and hopefully, I will find something!" He fingered a strand of hair, planting it at every fork he passed as an indicator, leaving a sensory link, and gradually figured out the path layout.

Suddenly, he heard someone call out, "Xiaolizi, Xiaolizi, can you really hear me?"

It was Lin Aoshan’s voice. Li Xian wanted to respond, but the hair strand could not speak, making communication difficult. He thought, "Ao Shan is communicating via the hair strand; she must be in trouble. I must listen closely!" He focused intensely, faintly seeing Lin Aoshan in a stone chamber.

Lin Aoshan’s face was pale, appearing injured, but the "hair strand" sensation was blurry, so he couldn’t see clearly. It turns out... during their earlier split and escape, Lin Aoshan skillfully maneuvered to repel her pursuers and inadvertently stumbled into some dangerous place.

She was injured by the guard. Seeing that she was a woman, the guard refrained from killing her, instead sealed her meridian and Inner Qi, imprisoning her inside a mountain wall. Unable to resist and severely injured, she felt escape was impossible. Recalling Li Xian’s instructions, she planted the hair strand to communicate soundlessly. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Li Xian frowned in contemplation, "Ao Shan has been quite friendly to me; it’s rare to have such a friend in life. If she’s in trouble, how can I not rescue her?" Determined, he followed the hair’s sensation to track her down.

Cautiously vigilant, he left no traces along the path. The roads within the Nine Orifice Dragon Heart Acupoint were all pebble paths, twisting left and right, looping forward and back. Li Xian, guided by the sensation, neared his destination.

Before him lay a stone door, thick and heavy, with only a slender gap open. Pushing it open would no doubt create a thunderous noise. Yet the gap was too narrow to pass through.

After a moment’s thought, Li Xian opened his Heavy Pupils to peer through the wall. Behind the stone door lay a gorge. It was already night, and moonlight sprinkled across the gorge. On both sides, hundreds of stone caves were carved into the rock, each imprisoning a woman.

Jing Chun Daoist, Ji Hui, Mu Hongchou, Lin Aoshan... were all there. The majority of Lakes and Mountains Sword Sect’s disciples, female disciples, and female elders from the Five Great Sword Sects... about several dozen people. Other stone chambers held other Jianghu women who had been secretly harmed and captured here.

Jing Chun Daoist’s face was ashen, pierced through the clavicle. The female elders from the Five Great Sword Sects were in similar dire straits. Iron chains perforated the stone caves, piercing their clavicles, binding the women firmly in place. Any movement brought unbearable pain.

Such is fate’s mockery. Li Xian joined the Flower Cage Sect, and for his first mission, he was rescuing instead of capturing people. Traditionally, heroes rescue beauties, who in turn show their gratitude. What then, wondered this Flower Thief rescuing beauties, would these beauties do?

(ps: The story has become a gem, though the title doesn’t attract, and despite the story having tens of thousands of words, I haven’t reached the collection numbers yet. Fortunately, with everyone’s support, it has nevertheless reached the level of a gem.)

(Though I have an outline, today’s writing was a bit stuck, taking nearly twice the usual time. More exciting plots are ahead, please subscribe, offer your support, and I humbly ask for your monthly votes.)